In turn to politics, Facebook starts a PAC

Facebook wants more friends. And, it is willing to pay for them.

The Silicon Valley social media company has, for the first time, formed an old-fashioned political action committee (PAC) and would use it to distribute cash to candidates in the coming elections. It is just one indication of how social media companies are integrating with the political landscape in a season in which these businesses are increasing their presence in campaign conversations.

“FB PAC would give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy, while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” a company spokesman said.

WHERE THEY STAND Average time spent on Facebook  in August (per session)
Country	Time
Singapore	38 mins 46 secs
New Zealand	30 mins 31 secs
Australia	26 mins 27 secs
UK	25 mins 33 secs
US	20 mins 46 secs
France	21 mins 53 secs
India	20 mins 21 secs
Brazil	18 mins 19 secs
Source: Experian Hitwise

The move follows technology companies like Facebook moving quickly to increase their influence in Washington, amid increasingly complex legislative debates about patents, monopoly status and concerns about the privacy of users.

It also reflects a new desire among senior executives at Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and other companies to use their technologies to be part of the political process in new ways.

Google co-sponsored a Republican presidential debate with Fox News last week. On Monday, Facebook held a town hall-style meeting featuring top House Republicans, hours after LinkedIn held a similar meeting with President Obama.

Executives at Facebook declined to offer more details about the PAC or to say which races it would make contributions to. The company confirmed the PAC was incorporated on Monday after it was reported it had registered internet domains for Fbpac.org and Fbpac.us.

Facebook has steadily increased its presence in Washington as it has grown. It hired its first employee in the District of Columbia in 2007, and the office now has more than a dozen people, including four federally registered lobbyists. The amount the company has spent lobbying Congress has grown as well.

“The increase represents a continuation of our efforts to explain how our service works, as well as the important actions we take to protect people who use our service and promote the value of innovation to our economy,” said Andrew Noyes, a Facebook spokesman.

The company’s competitors are also increasing their presence in the capital, as the competition for market dominance increasingly turns to legislative and regulatory fights.

According to disclosure documents filed in July, both Facebook and Google spent more money on lobbyists in the second quarter than ever before, another sign that the two technology giants are concerned about getting attention in Washington. Google increased its spending on lobbyists to $2.06 million in the second quarter, up from $1.48 million in the first quarter.

Facebook’s spending on lobbying, while far less, increased to $320,000 in the second quarter, up from $230,000 in the first. It has spent $550,000 so far this year, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Google opened its Washington office in 2006, the same year it started its own PAC. That year, the company’s committee distributed $36,984, according to OpenSecrets.Org, which tracks campaign spending. By 2010, the PAC had distributed $345,000, all for Congressional campaigns.

Google’s office in Washington has grown as well. It has 11 registered lobbyists as well as engineers, sales representatives and employees who work with enterprise clients, according to a company spokeswoman.

Last week, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google’s board and the former chief executive, testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue of competition. Schmidt told the committee Google was in “the area” of a monopoly, but is engaged in fierce competition with other companies.

Like Google, Facebook is facing increasing questions from lawmakers about the effect of its practices on its customers.

In May 2010, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, wrote an opinion article in The Washington Post to respond to charges that the company had acted cavalierly with user data and had made it too complicated for people to protect their privacy.

©2011 The New York
Times News Service